Singer George Michael died of natural causes: coroner

LONDON (Reuters) - Singer George Michael died of natural causes, a British coroner said on Tuesday, finding that heart failure and liver disease caused the pop star’s death on Christmas Day last year.

FILE PHOTO - Tributes to singer George Michael are displayed outside of his home in north London, Britain December 27, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo

The coroner said that there was no need for further inquiries into the death of Michael, 53, who rose to stardom in the 1980s with Wham! before a successful solo career.

“As there is a confirmed natural cause of death, being Dilated Cardiomyopathy with Myocarditis and Fatty Liver, the investigation is being discontinued,” Darren Salter, the Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire, said in a statement.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a heart condition that impairs the pumping of blood around the body.

The initial autopsy into the singer’s death had been inconclusive, though his manager had said previously that he had died of heart failure.

Wham! were one of the most successful pop duos of the mid 1980s, with singles such as “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, “Last Christmas”, “Careless Whisper”, and “Young Guns (Go For It!)”.